Actions That Might Make Willie Sutton Blush

October 21, 2006

Is it just me, or does the absurdity of awarding $5.1 million a year for life to a departing CEO (William McGuire) seem contrary to UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s and other health insurance companies' warnings of unbridled rising health care costs [Business section, Oct. 17, ``Departing CEO Gets $5 Million A Year'']? Sounds more like crying wolf.

If they are concerned with delivery of good health care and claims of efforts to curtail waste and inequity -- then how does one justify or tolerate padding the fat wallet of a health insurance CEO with even fatter rewards?

Why isn't this reward filtered back into providing patient care rather than cutting care for our most vulnerable: the elderly and children?

God willing, Mr. McGuire will live another 25 years. But do the math: That's $125 million!

Grace Parks

West Hartford

Willie Sutton was a prolific bank robber and prison escapee, credited with the theft of an estimated $2 million from 100 robberies. He used a pistol and a Thompson machine gun to state his purpose that he wanted their money. He was active in the late 1920s to his final arrest in 1952.

Today, it is not unusual to read the Courant's Business section and find too many situations of corporate leaders committing fraud, conspiracy, conflicts of interest, false reporting to the Internal Revenue Service, and possibly worst of all, maneuvering their contracts to obtain unimaginable amounts of money through salary, stock options, bonuses and retirement lump sums.

For example:

UnitedHealth Group Inc. will pay its departing chief $5.1 million a year for the rest of his life and a $6.5 million lump sum. Plus, he had stock options worth $1.78 billion as of the end of 2005.

Enron's founder was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying on two separate occasions resulting in wiping out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans.

A former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and false reporting of information about stocks he owned in food, beverage and medical device companies he was in charge of regulating.

On and on. Hey, with Willie Sutton, you knew exactly where you stood because he was up front. He was an honest crook with maybe a warped sense of integrity. Too often today, integrity in business is compromised to a shameful point.

God bless our honest top executives and directors and shame on all those who cheat and hurt the public from whom their enrichment came.